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Finland

Kittila Mine

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Overview

Mine TypeUnderground
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Gold
  • Silver
Mining Method
  • Open stoping
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SnapshotKittilä mine is the largest gold mine in Europe.

On October 27, 2023, the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland confirmed that the permits granted to Agnico Finland were valid and production could proceed at a rate of 2.0 mtpa in accordance with the permit.

At the mine, the production hoist ramp up was completed in December 2023, and 100% of ore was hoisted through the shaft.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. 100 % Indirect
Agnico Eagle Finland Oy (operator) 100 % Direct
The Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd's operations in Finland are conducted through its indirect subsidiary, Agnico Eagle Finland Oy, which owns the Kittila mine.

Deposit type

  • Hydrothermal

Summary:

The Kittila mine is situated within the Kittila Greenstone belt, part of the Lapland Greenstone belt in the Proterozoic-age Svecofennian geologic province. The appearance and geology of the area is similar to that of the Abitibi region of the Canadian Shield. In northern Finland, the bedrock is typically covered by a thin but uniform blanket of unconsolidated glacial till. Bedrock exposures are scarce and irregularly distributed.

The mine area is underlain by mafic volcanic and sedimentary rocks metamorphosed to greenschist assemblages and assigned to the Kittila group. The major rock units trend north to north-northeast and are near-vertical. The volcanics are further sub-divided into iron-rich tholeiitic basalts located to the west and magnesium-rich tholeiitic basalt, coarse volcaniclastic units, graphitic schist and minor chemical sedimentary rocks located to the east. The contact between these two rock units consists of a transitional zone (the "Porkonen Formation") varying between 50 and 200 metres in thickness. This zone is strongly sheared, brecciated and characterized by intense hydrothermal alteration and gold mineralization, features consistent with major brittle-ductile deformation zones. The zone is part of a major north-northeast-oriented shear zone (the "Suurikuusikko Trend").

The Porkonen Formation hosts the Kittila gold deposit, which contains multiple mineralized zones stretching over a strike length of more than 25 kilometres. Most of the work at the Kittila mine has been focused on the 4.5 kilometre stretch that hosts the known gold in mineral reserves and mineral resources. From north to south, the zones are Rimminvuoma ("RimpiS"), the deep extension of Rimminvuoma ("Rimpi Deep"), North Rouravaara ("RouraN"), Central Rouravaara ("RouraC"), depth extension of Rouravaara and Suurikuusikko ("Suuri/Roura Deep"), Suurikuusikko ("Suuri"), Etela and Ketola. The Suuri and Suuri/Roura Deep zones include several parallel subzones that have previously been referred to as Main East, Main Central and Main West. The Suuri zone hosts approximately 5% of the current proven and probable gold reserve estimate on a contained gold basis, while Suuri Deep has approximately 20%, RouraN and RouraC approximately 3%, Roura Deep approximately 41%, Rimpi Deep approximately 24% and RimpiS approximately 7%.

Gold mineralization in these zones is associated with intense hydrothermal alteration (carbonate-albite-sulphide), and is almost exclusively refractory, locked inside fine-grained sulphide minerals: arsenopyrite (approximately 73%) or pyrite (approximately 23%). The remainder is free gold, which is manifested as extremely small grains of gold in pyrite.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

CommodityUnits2024202320222021202020192018201720162015
Gold oz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe186,101188,979196,938202,508177,374
Silver koz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1413131211
All production numbers are expressed as payable metal. ^ Guidance / Forecast.

Operational metrics

Metrics2024202320222021202020192018201720162015
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1,590,902 t1,827,335 t1,684,626 t1,666,732 t1,464,038 t
Daily processing rate  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe4,359 t5,005 t4,615 t5,251 t5,156 t
Daily processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe3,750 t3,750 t3,750 t3,750 t3,750 t
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Daily ore mining rate  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe5,000 t5,000 t5,000 t5,000 t4,500 t
Annual processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
^ Guidance / Forecast.

Production Costs

CommodityUnits20242023202220212020201920182017
Credits (by-product) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe -1 / oz   -1 / oz   -1 / oz  
Cash costs Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 831 / oz   753 / oz  
Total cash costs Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 737 / oz   854 / oz   754 / oz  
Total cash costs Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 736 / oz **   853 / oz **   753 / oz **  
^ Guidance / Forecast.
** Net of By-Product.

Operating Costs

Currency20232022202120202019201820172016
Total operating costs ($/t milled) EUR 99  101  82  86  76  75  78  77  

Financials

Units20242023202220212020201920182017
Capital expenditures (planned) M USD  ....  Subscribe
Sustaining costs M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 78.2   47.1   57.1  
Capital expenditures M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 179.8   173.7   87.8  
Revenue M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 260.3   237.3   248.8  
Gross profit M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 61.7   8.5   41.8  

Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNamePhoneEmailProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 18, 2024
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EmployeesTotal WorkforceYear
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Aerial view:

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